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Nutrition Myths: Why Orange Juice is Not as Healthy as You Think

For many, it is simply part of the start of the day: orange juice. However, new evidence shows he is not as healthy as many believe.

The nutritional values ​​in a 230ml glass of orange juice:

Calories: 110
Protein: 2 grams
Carbohydrates: 26 grams
Sugar: 22 grams
Vitamin C: 120 percent of the recommended daily amount
Vitamin B1: 15 percent of the recommended daily amount
Potassium: 13 percent of the recommended daily amount
Folates: 10 percent of the recommended daily amount
It’s actually pretty good, isn’t it? The only recognizable weak point: the sugar content. At 22 grams per glass, orange juice is comparable to a glass of cola, which contains roughly the same amount of sugar. That’s the equivalent of almost nine sugar cubes. Apart from that, however, orange juice is rich in vitamins and should actually be good for our body.

Scott Kahan, however, sees things differently. The scientist is certain that the consumption of orange juice is associated with obesity and organ damage. And not just because of the sugar. Orange juice has been squeezed from several oranges. Consuming the juice cannot be compared to consuming a natural orange. When you eat an orange, you not only take in the same vitamins with significantly fewer calories, but also valuable dietary fiber, which slows down digestion and creates a feeling of satiety. This does not happen with orange juice. You don’t feel full even though you’ve consumed more calories.

Fruit juices have a lot of calories, but they don’t fill you up

According to Kahan, the added sugar is just the tip of the iceberg. The high sugar content can be a problem for diabetics in particular. But they are not the only ones at risk: the large amount of sugar can also be harmful for non-diabetics.

Nevertheless, orange juice also has advantages when consumed correctly: The juice is a direct supplier of carotenoids, falvonoids and vitamin C. Carotenoids support the immune system and, as antioxidants, fight harmful substances in the body. Falvonoid is an anti-inflammatory and inflammation can always be a trigger for serious diseases. Vitamin C is an essential nutrient for the body. It improves and supports the immune system and also acts as an antioxidant.

“If you really like orange juice, it can be worth including in moderate amounts in a balanced diet,” says Scott Kahan. However, all the good stuff in the juice can also be obtained by consuming a whole orange – and with far fewer calories.

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Food

Not Healthy: Keep Your Hands Off This Fruit

Fruit is always healthy, no matter how much? Unfortunately, this is not correct. We’ll tell you which fruit you should stay away from – because it’s not as healthy as it seems.

Is fruit always healthy? no

Daily consumption of fruit is part of every balanced and healthy diet. But you can also do a lot wrong when consuming fruit.

Nutrition organizations recommend eating at least two servings of fruit a day. To put this in perspective, a serving of fruit is roughly equivalent to one banana or two handfuls of berries. The consumer organization Foodwatch is even calling for the VAT on fruit to be abolished so that Germans can eat healthier. But not every fruit is suitable for a healthy diet. We tell you which fruits you should avoid and why.

grapes

Grapes, the millennia-old cultural fruit – not so healthy after all? According to nutritionist Jennifer Hyland of the Cleveland Clinic, the tasty fruit should only be enjoyed in small amounts, otherwise it can be harmful to your health. The reason for this is simple.

According to Hyland, grapes are simultaneously very high in sugar and low in fiber. The fact that the grapes also have such a convenient shape for snacking between meals increases the health risk even further. Due to their bite-sized size and high sugar content, there is a risk of eating a lot of grapes in a short time, which can raise blood sugar levels and thus promote illness.

But you don’t have to give up grapes because there are ways to reduce this risk. For example, instead of putting whole grapes on your plate, portion out the berries so you eat less of them. Nutritionist Hyland gives the following tip: Freeze the berries beforehand for a sweet snack that takes longer to eat.

Important: To prevent grapes from spiking your blood sugar levels, it is always best to combine grapes with a protein source such as nuts. How about a handful of Greek pistachios* with the grapes, for example?

dried fruit

Many athletes promote dried fruit or fruit bars as a healthy alternative to chocolate bars. While that’s true, there’s a catch: Many dried fruits contain unhealthy added sugars, which not only can make dried fruits a real calorie bomb, but also spike your blood sugar levels.

Dried fruits have another problem. Most of the water is removed from them during the drying process. So far, so unsurprising. However, like fiber, water is important for the feeling of satiety. Therefore, dried fruits often tempt to eat too much of them. But: If you pay attention to unsweetened variants and the portion size, there is nothing wrong with dried fruit. In general, fresh fruit is always the better and healthier choice.

Also interesting: It is not only in dried fruit that there is a lot of sugar, also in many other foods of our everyday life there are enormous amounts of calories, without most people knowing it.

fruit juice, smoothies and squeezies

When it comes to drinks, fruit comes in many different forms on our menu. Whether as orange juice for breakfast, as a supposedly healthy smoothie for athletes or as so-called Quetschie, a fruit mush snack popular with children. And these fruit drinks really pack a punch.

According to a well-known TV advertisement, a glass of orange juice covers your daily vitamin C requirement. What many people don’t know is that this glass of orange juice also covers more than half of an adult’s daily sugar requirement. The same goes for store-bought smoothies and squeezies. The sweet fruit drinks are a supposedly good way to cover the daily need for fruit. These and even unsweetened fruit juices can also raise your blood sugar level significantly.

Normally, the fiber contained in fruit ensures that the blood sugar level remains stable, but this is removed in most fruit drinks such as juices, squeezes or smoothies. The following applies here: Making it yourself is not only healthier, it also tastes much better. If you can’t avoid store-bought juice, consider adding a handful of nuts or another source of protein, according to nutritionist Hyland.

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Cooking Tips

To Peel Potatoes or Not: is it Safe to Eat The Peel?

Should you peel potatoes or not? Many are unsure whether there are actually many vitamins under the skin. You can read everything you need to know about the potato and its skin here.

Potatoes: That’s why you should peel them in the future

In principle, according to the consumer center, potatoes can also be eaten with their skins on. However, this does not increase the health value. On the contrary: When eating the peel, there is a risk of absorbing increased amounts of solanine. The natural toxin mainly forms directly under the skin and in the sprouts. In order to keep the solanine content as low as possible, the potato plant must be stored correctly.

If stored incorrectly, the solanine content can increase to levels that are harmful to health and ultimately irritate the mucous membranes and damage the nerves. Stomach pain, vomiting, diarrhea and headaches are often the result.

Since solanine is heat-resistant and is also retained during cooking, roasting and deep-frying, it is advisable to always eat potatoes without their skins. In order to avoid major losses of vitamins and minerals, it makes sense to first boil the potatoes and then peel them.

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Food

These Foods Are Not Good For You in Their Raw State

Many foods that most of us have at home are actually toxic – especially when raw. Here are seven toxic foods we still eat regularly.

bitter almonds

Almonds are a popular baking ingredient that packs a punch: Even five to ten raw bitter almonds can lead to fatal poisoning in children. This is because the amygdalin contained in the almonds is converted into toxic hydrocyanic acid in our body. Bitter almonds are usually only available in pharmacies, but it can happen that one of them is accidentally mixed with sweet almonds* in the supermarket. The problem: the almonds are visually indistinguishable.

But the all-clear is sound, because the poisonous bitter almonds don’t get their name by accident. And their bitter taste usually prevents you from eating more than one of them.

potatoes

Potatoes are actually a poisonous food. The reason for this is the solanine contained in the tubers. Solanine serves to kill rotting pathogens and thus protect the plant. The good thing is that most of the solanine is destroyed when the potatoes are cooked, making them safe for us. However, potatoes with green spots or sprouts should no longer be eaten, as this is where a particularly large amount of solanine is formed
Symptoms of poisoning with solanine range from headaches, vomiting, diarrhea or sore throats to severe poisoning that can be fatal. Older potatoes should therefore always be peeled.

cashew nuts

Cashew nuts are a popular and particularly healthy snack. But they are also poisonous in their original – uncooked – form, because they contain urushiol, a poison that can trigger strong reactions just by touching them. Fortunately, the poison is destroyed by heating, so the mostly roasted cashew nuts* from the supermarket are harmless.

By the way: The cashew nuts are often counted among the nuts. From a botanical point of view, however, they are not nuts at all, but the kernels of the cashew apple.

rhubarb

Rhubarb can also be poisonous. Because rhubarb contains the toxic oxalic acid, most of it in the leaves. If these are removed, the danger is manageable. In general, the more acidic the rhubarb, the more poisonous it is.

Green beans

Green beans actually sound very harmless and healthy. However, these are raw (just like almonds) only very limited edible. They also contain a toxin that is destroyed by heat: lectin phaseolin. In children, eating more than six green beans, for example from the garden, can lead to severe poisoning and even death. So be sure to enjoy the protein bombs cooked!

kidney beans

Kidney beans are also poisonous when raw. They contain the toxin phytohaemagglutinin, which is only destroyed by cooking. Caution: When cooking kidney beans, make sure that the water is really boiling and not just heated, otherwise there is a risk of poisoning and gastrointestinal problems.

manioc

When raw, manioc contains cyanide – i.e. hydrocyanic acid! And it’s highly toxic. That’s why you should never eat cassava raw. The cassava root comes from South America, but is now eaten all over the world. They can be peeled and chopped up, boiled in salted water and mashed – the result is a slightly sweet mashed potato. Manioc (also called “yuca”) also scores with many nutrients and vitamins, such as vitamin K. At the same time, the tuber is rich in starch – and calories.
Externally, cassava resembles a sweet potato, but has absolutely nothing to do with it.

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Food

Nutrition Check: You Should Not Combine These Foods

Not all foods can also be optimally combined with each other: While some food combinations have a healthy effect on our body, others should be avoided.

Combinations you should avoid

The first combination to avoid is white bread with jam. What is a popular breakfast for many should be avoided in the future: the bread contains many simple carbohydrates. If you eat this in combination with jam, your blood sugar level will rise briefly and then quickly drop again. The result is a feeling of ravenous hunger due to a lack of satiety and lack of strength. Alternatives for breakfast are needed: for example, choose wholemeal bread with a spread, a healthy porridge or yoghurt with fresh fruit.

If you eat a dish with lentils, you should avoid drinking red wine with it. The reason for this is that the tannins contained in red wine inhibit iron absorption. However, iron is important for our body; plant-based iron is very important, especially if you are vegan or vegetarian. If, for example, you choose lemon juice or another drink containing vitamin C instead of red wine, iron absorption can even be promoted.

The combination of salad and a fat-free dressing should also be avoided. The reason: Fat-free dressing prevents the body from absorbing the vitamins ideally. There is an inhibited absorption of vitamins, since many plant foods such as carrots need the fat in order to be able to be absorbed by the body. So a better idea is to add a few drops of an oil to the salad, for example.

Other food combinations to avoid

Another very popular combination is black tea with milk. Black tea is best known for containing anti-inflammatory antioxidants. However, if you add milk to the tea, the antioxidants are bound by the milk proteins and cannot be absorbed by the body. The calcium contained in the milk can also only be poorly absorbed by the body due to the caffeine in the tea. If you want to avoid this effect, you could, for example, add some lemon juice to the tea for better absorption of the antioxidants.

With a view to health, burgers and beer should ideally not be combined. Because even if the taste is perhaps very convincing, this can lead to small fat deposits over a long period of time. The reason for this: The body first starts to break down the alcohol and only then with the fat reduction. If you want to avoid the risk of unnecessary fat deposits on your hips, you should rather reach for a glass of water with the burger.

Another combination to avoid is alcohol with caffeine. Even if the caffeine often seems to be good after a night of heavy drinking, it ensures that the effects of the alcohol cannot be properly perceived. If you’re at a party, it’s better to have tea or water the day after.

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Cooking Tips

To Peel Potatoes or Not? It’s Really Easy With This Trick

Some say potatoes should be peeled, others advise against it. We reveal what’s really true and show a trick you can use to peel potatoes in a flash.

You can conjure up many delicious dishes from potatoes: baked potatoes, potato gratin or simple boiled potatoes. The tuber is versatile, tasty and healthy. When preparing the potatoes, many people ask themselves: should I rather peel the potatoes or can I eat them with the skin on?

Toxins in the potato peel

In addition to nutrients and roughage, the potato peel also contains toxic glycoalkaloids: a-solanine and a-chaconine. These toxins occur naturally in the potato. They are mainly concentrated in the skin and in the germ. Inside the potato, on the other hand, there are significantly fewer toxins.

Glycoalkaloids are heat stable but water soluble. This means: High temperatures do not affect the toxins. If, on the other hand, you cook the potatoes in boiling water, the substances are removed from the skin.

Our commercially available potato varieties naturally do not contain any concentrations of these toxic substances that are harmful to health. The actual content of these substances is additionally influenced by several factors:
Unripe potatoes contain more toxins than ripe potatoes
Damage (e.g. during transport) and light favor the formation of toxins
If potatoes are stored too warm or too cold, more toxins are also formed
So if your potatoes are ripe, undamaged and stored properly, you don’t have to worry about the glycoalkaloids.

Potato peel protects the nutrients and flavors

Potatoes contain a lot of vitamins B and C. However, some of these vitamins are lost during cooking. The potato skin acts as a barrier when cooking: If you cook your potatoes with the skin, fewer flavors and nutrients are released into the water. This means that more of these valuable substances remain in the potato.

To peel or not to peel potatoes?

Although there is a significant amount of glycoalkaloids in the skin, you don’t necessarily have to peel potatoes. The Bavarian State Ministry for the Environment and Consumer Protection confirms that potatoes can be eaten with their skins without hesitation as long as they are of “normal quality”.

If you still want to peel the potatoes, we recommend that you only peel them after cooking. In this way, the potatoes retain as many nutrients and flavors as possible. Make sure, however, that you use the potatoes soon after cooking so that you don’t lose any more flavor and nutrients unnecessarily.

Green spots are an indication of increased levels of toxins. Therefore, cut out the green areas generously. Very green potatoes should be discarded entirely.

Trick: peeling potatoes made easy

You can easily peel potatoes with the following instructions:
Wash the potatoes and score the skin all over with a sharp knife.
Boil the potatoes until they are done. Make sure that the potatoes are not overcooked, otherwise they may fall apart when you peel them.
Place the cooked potatoes in ice water and chill for at least 10 seconds.
You can then simply peel off the peel either with your fingers or with a knife.
You can actually peel potatoes quite easily using this method. However, this isn’t magic either, and the peel won’t always come off “in one go”. Especially if the potato is a bit misshapen or has small “spots”, you will definitely have to touch up some areas.

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Food

Eating a Kiwi With Its Skin on: Recommended, But Not Always

Most kiwis are peeled or spooned. You can also eat kiwis with the skin on and benefit from the most valuable nutrients. We explain what you should pay attention to.

Eat the kiwi peel too – it takes a little getting used to at first

Eating kiwis with the skin on is very healthy. Wash the kiwi well, remove the stalk and then cut into strips or cubes. The taste of the peel is a bit peculiar, but it complements the sweet flesh of the kiwi very well. The rough, hairy structure of the kiwi skin in particular might take some getting used to at first. Just try it a few times – and you’ll quickly get used to the special consistency. For starters, you can also try the golden kiwis, which have a noticeably thinner and smoother skin.

Tip: If you puree the kiwi with the peel in a smoothie, you will hardly notice the difference.
Important: When buying, you should make sure that you choose organically grown kiwis. In conventional cultivation, chemicals such as pesticides are often used, which are then mainly found on the skin. In this case, it’s best not to eat the peel. To be on the safe side, you should also wash organic kiwifruit thoroughly beforehand.

Eat the kiwi with the skin on – that’s why it’s so healthy

Kiwis are rich in vitamin C, vitamin K and vitamin A, and also provide potassium and magnesium. As with most fruits, most of the nutrients are just under the skin. If you peel or spoon out kiwis, you often miss out on some of these important vitamins and trace elements.

In addition, the peel itself is rich in antioxidants and provides additional fiber.
For these reasons, it is generally highly recommended to eat kiwis with the skin on: This way you get the full health boost that this tasty and healthy fruit provides.

Kiwi without pangs of conscience – avoid long transport routes

Therefore, when shopping, you should pay more attention to the country of origin of the delicious fruit in order to minimize your ecological footprint. In Europe, France, Italy, Spain and Greece are among the most important producers. In these countries, the kiwi is in season from September. During the summer months, however, you should better avoid kiwis – then they usually come from the southern hemisphere.

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Food

Media Warn: “Avocados Are Not Vegan”

Vegans like to eat avocados. Because the healthy superfood is a delicious substitute for animal foods. Strictly speaking, the avocado is not vegan at all – at least that is what the British television broadcaster BBC claims.

“Which of these foods can you eat as a strict vegan?” presenter Sandi Toksvig asks her contestants on the latest episode of BBC quiz show “QI”. Almonds, avocados, kiwis, a pumpkin and a melon are shown on a screen. The surprising answer: “None.”

Although the food does not consist of animal products, animals are exploited for their cultivation, according to the moderator. Just like honey production, avocado cultivation uses bees in an unnatural way. “The fruits depend on the bees, which are transported long distances across the country by truck,” says Toksvig on the show.

Animals are exploited to grow avocados

The method is called “migratory beekeeping”, in which the bees swarm out to pollinate the fields, then put them back in boxes and transport them to the next cultivation area. The same applies to cucumbers, broccoli, cherries and lettuce.

In fact, when it comes to honey, animal rights activists argue just like the BBC show: According to the animal welfare organization Peta, bees for the honey industry are “victims of unnatural living conditions, genetic manipulation and stressful transport.”

The difference, however, is that honey is produced directly by the bees. When growing avocados (and growing many other fruits and vegetables), the bees are only responsible for pollinating the plants.

Pollination is actually a natural process. On large fields and plantations, however, there are not enough bees to fertilize an entire plantation. The bees are therefore placed artificially on the fields.

So are avocados, almonds & co. vegan?

Media such as Bild.de, bento or Focus online are picking up the story and warning vegans about the allegedly non-vegan types of fruit and vegetables. But what is the truth of the claim?

Ultimately, whether avocados and other fruits and vegetables are vegan depends on how you define veganism. The organization The Vegan Society, for example, contradicts the interpretation of the program “QI”. “Vegans avoid using animals as much as possible,” spokeswoman Dominika Piasecka told the online magazine Plant Based News.

It is clear that in agriculture animals are often harmed indirectly. Unfortunately, it is not yet possible to avoid this at the moment, the spokeswoman said. “Vegans go a long way in reducing animal suffering. We welcome any changes in farming practices that support this.”

Avocados: Not only problematic for animals

Apart from that, the avocado is also a not unproblematic food for other reasons. In Germany, for example, the fruit is mainly imported from Peru, Chile, Mexico and South Africa. It covers a correspondingly long transport route in refrigerated containers, which causes emissions twice over and has a negative impact on the ecological balance of the fruit.

In Mexico in particular, environmental organizations also complain that forests are being cleared illegally to make way for avocado fields.

And avocados need enormous amounts of water: an avocado tree needs around 50 liters of water per day, which is already scarce in the rather hot, dry growing areas. Estimates assume that almost 1,000 liters of water are used for one kilo of avocados – that’s often only three pieces.

So whether the avocado is vegan or not is a matter of definition. The fact is: the fruit is not exactly sustainable. If you still don’t want to do without avocados, you should opt for organically grown fruit and also choose avocados from Spain or Israel, because the transport routes are shorter here.

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Food

Eating Eggplant Raw: Why it is Not Recommended

“You shouldn’t eat aubergines raw” is a piece of advice many have heard. We explain what’s behind it and whether you really shouldn’t eat aubergines raw.

Eat aubergines raw – yes or no?

The aubergine belongs to the nightshade family, which also includes tomatoes and potatoes. Eggplants produce the toxin solanine, a weak neurotoxin. In small amounts, solanine usually has no noticeable consequences. But if you eat a lot of raw eggplant, the solanine can lead to headaches, gastrointestinal problems and vomiting. According to the German Society for Nutrition, even more serious health consequences are possible.

Since the proportion of bitter substances at the base of the aubergine and in unripe aubergines is higher, many doctors warn against eating raw aubergines. Nowadays, however, aubergines themselves are hardly toxic even when they are raw, since the toxins only occur in extremely small doses in modern cultivations.

Raw eggplants don’t taste good

In principle, it is possible to eat ripe aubergines raw. Nevertheless, it is not recommended because the raw vegetables taste very bitter and are not tasty.

Despite modern breeding, you should make sure that your eggplant is really ripe before you eat it. This is how you minimize the toxins. You can recognize the inedible parts by the green color – just like with potatoes and tomatoes.

You can see whether an aubergine is ripe by these characteristics:
the skin is smooth and shiny,
the peel is easy to dent and the flesh underneath is relatively soft,
the flesh is white on the inside and not green.
To draw the bitter juices out of the eggplant, it’s often recommended to soak the raw eggplant in salted water and pat dry before baking/roasting. In terms of health, this is no longer necessary thanks to modern breeding. But it’s still worth it, because the eggplant absorbs less fat and is healthier.

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Food

Glucose: Why it’s Not as Healthy as We Think

Without dextrose, also called glucose, we could not live. Here you can find out why you should still only take it in moderation.

Have you ever eaten glucose before an exam or before exercising to get more energy? In fact, glucose is the body’s primary source of energy. Every cell needs glucose to work and survive – according to the health portal netdoktor.de, your brain alone uses over 100 grams per day.

This is how glucose gets into our body

When you eat a glucose candy, the sugar immediately enters your bloodstream through your digestive tract. There, the hormone insulin ensures that the glucose is distributed to the cells of your body. If there is anything left after that, your body stores the glucose in the form of glycogen. In the liver, he can store the glycogen for a few hours and access it again when needed.

In order to supply your body with glucose, you do not have to eat it in its pure form. According to netdoktor.de, your body can produce glucose from other carbohydrates, proteins and possibly also from fatty acids. For example, glucose is a building block of normal table sugar (sucrose) and lactose. The substance is also found in more complex carbohydrates, such as those found in whole grains. When you chew carbohydrate foods, your body is already making glucose.

If you are healthy, you can hardly eat too little glucose. The only important thing is in which form you take the glucose.

Better to let the body produce glucose

When you eat a glucose candy, the glucose enters your body the fastest way. Your body doesn’t have to make them from other carbohydrates first. Your blood sugar level rises quickly and your cells get energy.

Once the glucose has been redistributed, it’s no longer in the blood—meaning your blood sugar levels go down as fast as they went up. Your body now needs new energy – and you get hungry. If you constantly give in to this feeling of hunger, it can lead to you consuming too many calories over a long period of time.

The so-called “glycemic index” (GI) shows you how quickly your blood sugar level rises and falls as a result of a food. Pure glucose has the highest glycemic index: 100. It is much lower in whole grains, dairy products and most fruits. Your body must first produce glucose from these foods. That’s why your blood sugar level rises more slowly and less strongly – and also falls more slowly again. So you are full longer.

Fast Glucose: Are High GI Foods Unhealthy?

It has not yet been proven whether foods with a high glycemic index actually increase the risk of obesity, diabetes and other diseases. In addition, the glycemic index is not a fixed quantity: if you combine foods with a high glycemic index with fats or proteins, these ensure that your body absorbs glucose more slowly.

Ultimately, you should eat whole, varied meals rather than isolated stuff. In this way you stay full longer and not only supply your body with glucose, but also with many other important nutrients and roughage.

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